Abhanga 303
A person who mocks true devotees and has no taste for the divine reveals a deep corruption of mind through their harmful speech, and you should keep a clear boundary from them.
The verse
छळी विष्णुदासा कोणी । त्याची अमंगळ वाणी ॥१॥ येऊं न द्यावा समोर । अभागी तो दुराचार ॥ध्रु.॥ नावडे हरिकथा । त्याची व्यभिचारीण माता ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे याति । भ्रष्ट तयाचि ते मति ॥३॥
Literal translation
One who chaḷī the Vishnu-dāsa — his is amangaḷa-vāṇī. Don't let (him) come samōra — abhāgya, dur-ācāra. Doesn't like hari-kathā — his mātā is vyabhicāriṇī. Tuka says: the jāti — bhraṣṭa — that mati.
मराठी: छळी विष्णुदासा कोणी — त्याची अमंगळ वाणी. येऊं न द्यावा समोर — अभागी तो दुराचार. नावडे हरिकथा — त्याची व्यभिचारीण माता. तुकाराम म्हणतात — याति भ्रष्ट तयाचि ते मति.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| छळी विष्णुदासा कोणी | "one whochaḷī(scolds / vexes / persecutes) theVishnu-dāsa" |
| त्याची अमंगळ वाणी | "hisamangaḷa-vāṇī(impure speech)" |
| येऊं न द्यावा समोर | "don't let (him) comesamōra(face)" |
| अभागी तो दुराचार | "abhāgya (unfortunate / sinful), dur-ācāra (wrong-conduct)" |
| नावडे हरिकथा | "doesn't likehari-kathā" |
| त्याची व्यभिचारीण माता | "hismātāisvyabhicāriṇī" |
| याति भ्रष्ट तयाचि ते मति | "thejāti—bhraṣṭa— thatmati" |
What it means
A sharp anti-Vishnu-dāsa-scolder abhang. Three accusations:
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छळी विष्णुदासा कोणी — त्याची अमंगळ वाणी — one who scolds Vishnu-dāsa — his amangaḷa-vāṇī. The first-marker: amangaḷa-vāṇī (impure / inauspicious speech). The Vishnu-dāsa-scolder's speech is amangaḷa — the speech itself is the diagnostic.
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येऊं न द्यावा समोर — अभागी तो दुराचार — don't let face you — abhāgya, dur-ācāra. The boundary-rule. Don't let such a person come into your face — they are abhāgya (sinful) and dur-ācāra (wrong-conduct-doer). Maintain the boundary.
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नावडे हरिकथा — त्याची व्यभिचारीण माता — doesn't like hari-kathā — his mother is vyabhicāriṇī. This is the harshest line. Vyabhicāriṇī — adulteress. Tukaram is not literally claiming the person's mother is an adulteress; he is using the strongest classical insult to mark the gravity-of-not-liking-hari-kathā. The hari-kathā-aversion is so structural-disorder that it parallels the deepest social-disorder. (The vyabhicāra-image is Tukaram's gravity-marker — par-nārī-gamana = mother-mating in 282; herenon-liking-hari-kathā produces the same maternal-disorder claim.)
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तुका म्हणे याति भ्रष्ट तयाचि ते मति — Tuka says: the jāti is bhraṣṭa — that mati. The closing-claim. Jāti here in the quality-sense (compare 288's vi-jāti by pāṇī). Bhraṣṭa — corrupt, fallen. The mati (mind / intellect) is bhraṣṭa; the jāti-quality is corrupt. The outer-pāpa-act (scolding Vishnu-dāsa, disliking hari-kathā) reflects the inner-quality-corruption.
[T]
For someone today
Someone who mocks and torments true devotees gives themselves away through their own harmful, impure speech — how a person talks about real devotion and real teachings reveals what's inside them. Tukaram says plainly: don't let such a person into your circle; keep a clear boundary, because their conduct is genuinely harmful. Having no taste for hearing about God is not a minor preference to Tukaram — he treats it as a sign of deep inner corruption, and uses the harshest language of his time to drive the point home. In the end, harmful speech and this aversion both come from the same root: a mind that has gone badly astray.
मराठी: जो कोणी खऱ्या भक्तांना छळतो किंवा त्यांची थट्टा करतो, तो स्वतःच्या अपवित्र, अमंगळ बोलण्यातून स्वतःला उघड करतो — खरी भक्ती आणि खरी शिकवण याबद्दल माणूस कसा बोलतो यावरून त्याच्या मनात काय आहे ते कळतं. तुकाराम स्पष्ट सांगतात — अशा माणसाला आपल्या जवळ येऊ देऊ नका; स्पष्ट सीमा राखा, कारण त्याचं वर्तन खरोखरच हानिकारक असतं. देवाबद्दल ऐकायला न आवडणं ही तुकारामांच्या दृष्टीने साधी आवड-नावड नाही — ते याला खोल आंतरिक भ्रष्टतेचं लक्षण मानतात, आणि हा मुद्दा ठसवण्यासाठी त्या काळातली सर्वात कठोर भाषा वापरतात. शेवटी, हानिकारक बोलणं आणि ही नावड दोन्ही एकाच मुळातून येतात — भरकटलेलं मन.
Where this applies
- Amangaḷa-vāṇī is the Vishnu-dāsa-scolder's first marker.
- Don't let face-access. Boundary-rule.
- Hari-kathā-aversion is structural-disorder. Not preference.
- Bhraṣṭa-matiunderlies thebhraṣṭa-acts. Inner-source.